Remodeling Mastery by Mark Richardson

The concept of surviving in business is something everyone should be thinking about during these uncertain times and what lies ahead in the next few months. If you do, you'll find that the opportunity to thrive will be greater than ever. In this special episode, Mark Richardson shares 10 actions, ideas, and recommended digital tools to help your business not only survive, but help you position your business for the future and long-term success. Take care, everyone!

(1:38) In This Episode: Virus Leadership This is the time to lead, the time for leaders to step up and lead their company. This is one of those times where there are a lot of things going on, particularly the issue with the coronavirus. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark explains the importance of good leadership and management during uncertain times. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty out there that can create fear and confusion among your team and clients. Tune in to learn lots of tips that will help you lead your team better. (16:59) Thought Leader Interview with Erika Taylor, Director of Content for Professional Remodeler Erika Taylor is the chief of content for one of the top construction and remodeling trade publications in the country. She joins Mark today to share some of her insights into the latest trends and issues in the industry. Tune in as they discuss the increased consolidation and activity of private equity companies in the home improvement industry, the focus on greater authenticity during marketing and the effect of the younger generation on the industry. “Yes, we have a labor shortage but as the older generation exits in ever increasing numbers, the younger people coming in are going to remake the industry in exciting ways and I'm starting to see that happen.” —Erika Taylor

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:48) In This Episode: Risk Intelligence How do you think about risk? Risk intelligence is one of the most important differentiators between successful businesses and mediocre businesses. It's not enough to simply think in terms of high-risk tolerance and low-risk tolerance. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will explain the concept of risk intelligence and why it is different from risk tolerance. Join Mark as he discusses seven questions you need to ask yourself to determine your risk intelligence. He also gives tips on how your business can deal with risk better. (17:19) Thought Leader Interview with Kermit Baker, Project Director for Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University Kermit Baker is the Project Director of the Remodeling Futures Program at Harvard University and he is also the Chief Economist for the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. Join Kermit and Mark as they discuss where the remodeling industry is heading. They discuss the state of the remodeling market in 2020 and beyond, potential challenges and issues and more. "When we sit in this housing bubble, things look pretty rosy. But I think if you get outside that bubble for a minute you see a lot of potential risks out there. Number one is the economy grew in 2018 in about 2.7, 2.8% and last year grew about 2.3% and this year it's projected to grow in under 2%." —Kermit Baker

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:40) In This Episode: Scarcity The reality is that some businesses have a certain amount of scarcity. Scarcity as it relates to opportunity, leads, clients and projects. Some businesses, however, have an abundance of those things. Why is that the case? In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will explain how companies that understand scarcity vs. abundance are the ones that are able to deal with scarcity. Join Mark as he explains what scarcity means and how it relates to your business. He also gives tips on how your business can deal with scarcity better. (14:05) Thought Leader Interview with Ed Johnson, Executive Director & CEO of the Better Business Bureau Mid-Atlantic Region The BBB is a highly recognized and respected non-profit organization. It is the largest community of trusted businesses in North America. Ed Johnson has been with the BBB for over 30 years and he’s been the president and CEO for the BBB in the DC area for over 23 years. Join Ed and Mark as they discuss the BBB and how you can leverage it to improve and take your business to the next level. "Throughout the United States in 2018 there were over 170 million inquiries to the BBB on various companies. Whereas there were only 860,000 complaints. So what this tells you is that more people are calling to find out about a company before they do business with them so they don't have to complain later." —Ed Johnson

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:30) In This Episode: 20 Tips for 2020 It's a brand new year and the start of a new decade, so it's the perfect time to really think about how you can improve your business and, if necessary, implement some changes. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will discuss 20 tips, insights and thoughts for 2020. Join Mark as he discusses the importance of figuring out your why, the benefits of keeping things simple, why you shouldn't necessarily look at each month or each quarter equally and more. (20:45) Thought Leader Interview with Sabrina Starling, Author of How To Hire The Best: The Contractor’s Ultimate Guide to Attracting Top Performing Employees Of all the different issues in the industry right now, one of the most challenging is finding, hiring, retaining the right kind of talent. Sara wrote her book to fulfill a need. There just wasn't a guide to help small business owners with hiring. Remodeling companies often face a dilemma. There are opportunities to grow their business, but they don't have the team members to capitalize on that opportunity. Join Sara and Mark as they discuss how to build the best team for your company. "When it comes to hiring A players, we need to understand their psychology and how they behave and structure our recruiting process around that." —Sabrina Starling

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:45) In This Episode: 2020 2020 is not only just a new year, but a new decade. A new decade has a lot of different meanings compared to just a new year. When you think in terms of decades instead of years, you'll begin to notice several important issues that you probably wouldn't have noticed if you only think in terms of years. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will discuss 10 different thoughts and insights about looking at something at a 10-year cycle vs. looking at something at just for one year. (14:11) Thought Leader Interview with Joaquin Erazo, President and Founder of Marketing Wing Joaquin Erazo is the president and founder of Marketing Wing. His company offers cutting-edge strategic marketing for design build remodeling companies and takes an analytical approach to building a marketing strategy for their clients. In the past 10-15 years, marketing has changed because consumers have changed. Today's consumers are more sophisticated and they have a lot more information on their fingertips. Join Joaquin and Mark as they discuss how marketing strategies for remodeling companies have changed and explain how your business can thrive in this new environment. "When I think of marketing strategies, I usually look at them in three buckets: client acquisition, client retention and branding. The big effect on those strategies today has been technology." —Joaquin Erazo

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:35) In This Episode: World Class Client Experiences Many people go into the remodeling business because they have a real interest in designing and building things, which is why they focus on the product and on creating things for their customers. However, the reality is for customers it's not about the product. It's about the experience. Creating great experiences for your customers is one of the keys to business success. A delighted core client base can provide a lot of value because of positive reviews, referrals and repeat business. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will explain how you can create a world class customer experience. It's simpler than you think. (14:41) Thought Leader Interview with David Lupberger, Author of The Emotional Homeowner David Lupberger is a former remodeling contractor who now writes books and gives talks on how to make customers for life. Join David and Mark as they discuss how remodeling companies have a unique relationship with their customers that no other service providers have. David explains why it's incredibly important to maintain your engagement with your customers. A remodeler can provide an ongoing service to their customers because remodeling is trust-driven and experience-driven, not price-driven. "We're in a relationship with people anywhere from three to over twelve months. We are literally working in their home, around their family and so the relationships we have with people are just sincere and fundamental." —David Lupberger

(1:37) In This Episode: Who Will Fire You? It's critical that as you and your business mature, you start thinking about the next steps: the transitions in your business. These transitions need to be thought about well in advance. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will discuss how you can create these transitions and provide you with 6 useful tips. You can't move forward unless you design the person who will push you forward. (13:24) Thought Leader Interview with Vince Nardo, President of Reborn Vince Nardo is the President of Reborn. He grew his father's small business into a company with 7 locations in California and Nevada and about 500 employees. Join Vince and Mark as they discuss the importance of looking at your business in an analytical and systematic way. He also shares insights on how constantly challenging himself has led his business into success and explains why you should hire for where you want to be rather than hiring for what you need today. "It's sad to say but we don't really focus on the product we do because the product we do is already great. We focus on the systems that we need to have in order to make the product work. And that's what we really really work on every single day." —Vince Nardo

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:52) In This Episode: Keep it Simple Many different remodelers out there make their lives more complicated than they need to be. The companies that try to boil things down and make it simple are the ones that are winning. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, Mark will spend some time talking about how you can simplify and avoid making things complicated. You will learn about the power of 3 and how it can help your thinking process and keep you on track. (17:26) Thought Leader Interview with Chris Marentis, Founder and CEO of Surefire Local Chris Marentis is the founder and CEO of Surefire Local, a digital marketing leader that helps local businesses generate new business by getting discovered online. He joins Mark today to share some insights and help you crack the code on what's happening in the digital marketing world. Tune in as they discuss how marketing has changed, the proliferation of the different channels and platforms where you can connect with customers, the 3 key principles that are important in digital marketing and more. "Reviews are the currency for visibility today...Online reviews give you a lot of leverage...You're going to want to create a strategy for yourself and ask for reviews and make it easy for customers to give your reviews." —Chris Marentis

Thank you for listening to Remodeling Mastery! Become one of our 50,000 listeners by subscribing today—just search for ‘Remodeling Mastery’ on your podcast app of choice. (1:04) In This Episode: Moments of Truth What are the critical points in the process that are important to get right? These are the moments of truth that will influence the success of your business. To help you understand this concept, Mark will use a traditional design-build remodeling process as an example. In this episode of Remodeling Mastery, you will learn about the 12 moments of truth in the remodeling process and why you should get those moments right. (14:35) Thought Leader Interview with Dave Anderson, Senior Vice President with Service Finance Financing can be an effective tool to promote your business and get more sales. Financing can allow you to offer your customers a more attractive and affordable deal and help you reach out to homeowners who don't want to use cash for their projects. Join Mark and Dave as they discuss the advantages of dealer-arranged financing, the benefits of integrating financing to your sales and marketing process, the misconceptions surrounding financing and more. "If you look at any large marketing organization, even outside as well as inside the home improvement world, you will find an organization that has seen the value of financing and how financing can make that project of the customer's dreams attractive and affordable." —Dave Anderson Subscribe to Remodeling Mastery: iTunes | Google Play | SoundCloud | Stitcher In 2019, Mark G. Richardson is taking his popular podcast series to the next level with a fresh new format in store for listeners. Mark will be integrating interviews with thought leaders who have experienced tremendous success in the industry and growing their own businesses to share snippets of wisdom to help you achieve the same. Additionally, Mark is bringing in some experts to share key indicators that they’re seeing out there in the marketplace that could have a monumental impact on your business.